Elderly, injured or sick people may find it difficult to sit in a chair. Such an individual may not be able to hold his upper torso in the upright position. As a result, the upper torso can move laterally or forward with respect to the chair causing the individual to actually fall from the chair. There have been cases where people have become very seriously injured in such a situation.
In the past, in order to overcome this problem, it has been common to strap the patient to the chair. This usually takes the form of two separate straps, one located about the chest area to secure the patient to the chair. Also, arm straps may be employed.
The use of such prior art strapping arrangements have many disadvantages, not the least of which is the undesirable psychological affect on the patient of being strapped to a chair. Another disadvantage arises if there is ever a need to quickly remove the patient from the chair; such is difficult to do because of the requirement to disengage so many different straps. Also, another disadvantage is that the straps totally immobilize the patient. Such total immobility is not required and if a very small amount of mobility could be given to the patient, such would be desirable.
There is a need for a support and a restraint device to be used in conjunction with a chair, such as a wheelchair, which would securely restrain the patient in an upright position but yet provide a limited amount of movement of the patient and would also not make the patient feel totally confined.